Sheet holder



IOct. 3, 1950 B. K. sLoNNEGl-:R

SHEET HOLDER Filed Feb. 23, 1949 FIG.|

INVENTOR SLONNEGER A ...VN

HIS ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 3 1950 UNI TED STATES PATENT AOf-FJF-lCE.`

r'SHE-El HOLDER Bruce iK. fSlonneger, Dayton, Ohio, .fassignor 'to The National Cash RegistereGompany, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland ApplicationF-ebruary 23, 1949,1'Ser`ial'No. 771,936

.5 claims. l

This invention 'relates to sheet holders adapted to releasably hold a plurality of sheets.

vThe inventionis illustrated as adapted for use in restaurants, and as illustrated, consists of a holder for guest tickets, which holder is clipped to,.or secured to, the counter top,or table,l inv a position yconvenient opposite a guest where the waitress can enter the porder. The holder has a compartment `adapted'to receive a pile of guest tickets V'which are removablyheld therein, and the compartment is vprovided with a sliding closure "which is movable under a, removed `guest ticket toisprovide a Writing table therefor.

'Afrrnbiectof the invention .is to provide a convenient holder forrestaurant guest tickets which areimade'readily available toa waitress for marking items of food wanted.

--Another .object of the-invention is to provide a-rholder for restaurant guest tickets removably mounted on the counter or table in front of guests to be served.

Another object of the invention is to provide a resilient clamp tofmaintain theholder in position on'acounter top or table.

v A specic object of the invention is to provide .a convenient holder for a pile of restaurant tickets which completely Vencloses the pile 'to protect'them "against becoming soiled,'or otherwise-.mutilated With 'these and incidental-objects in view,1the

4invention includes certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, the essential velements ofwhich 'are set forth in appended Ihlaimsfgand a preferred form or embodiment of In general i AIEhe .invention .is shown as .applied vfor use .in .ayrestauranu and for thiswreasonguest vtickets are illustrated in the holder. The holder is proholder `Vtaken v2 vided with .fa compartment having a resilient member for .pressingrone iendfof La'pile of tickets therein against aniinner ledge ofthe holder, is'o that-theitickets 'are releasably held inthe holder.

Aslidingclosure is provided whichis normally in `closed "position, and to "obtain 'access 'to the top'ticket of the pile, the closure is slid rearwardly, fwhereupon Ia linger can lb'e inserted v'to buckle Vjthe rearward end fof the topti-cket to withdraw it 4from the holder. Thereafter the closure /is 'moved forwardly vbeneath the removed end of lthe ticket to form ia writing table for making "entries on Vthe 1ticket; After the guest has-'been served the .ticketlis removed by va slight pull. The Arearward end of 'the 'holder also providedfwith -a 'nonemovable table Tlying justbeneath :and in sliding contact with the closure 'to provi'de'a hand rest 'for the 'waitressV The space beneath the hand rest provides a convenient space lfor insertion of a clip for clipping the holder ito the counter `sothat the holder-'cannot be accidentally shifted, ormoved, lout 'of position. If desired the holder Ycan lbe permanently secured to the counter 'doy screws, or any other similar manner.

Detail description rThe hlder is `provided' with :two-side walls I0 and-il which extend throug/hcthe entire'length of the holder. The side walls lIii and l'l are formed on a bottom plate I'Zjthelforward end of which `is 'formed upwardly-to form an end wall f3, the 'latter being formed lto provide a top-ledge i4.

Theside walls Il! and vIl have-flanges l5 and I6, respectively, formed to "extend `outwardly therefrom at right anglesthereto. Aclosure Il, isfformed with U-shaped'edges [Band I 9, to slidably Vengage 'the flanges i5 and I- respectively. The `closure ll can ther'eby'be moved'forwar'dly to close the ticket compartment, Aand rearwardly from closed position 'to renderthe tickets inthe` compartment accessible. '.Theclosure Il is long enough toV close the compartment formed by r'a resilient member '20, .formedto'rest on the bottom I'2,.and which Ais formedon itsrearward end to .provide an upstan'ding wall 2|. Theiforward partzofthe resilient member 26 is biased to Vengageand impinge .the "forward end ofa pileiof .tickets2'2 against the underside ofthe ledge M toreleasably hold the. pile of tickets in the holder. Therearward end ofthelholder is providediwith a hand rest 23 having downwardly -extending side .Walls24 .and 25. Thehand ,rest extends from the rear end of 'theholderto"aposition a.

following manner. site each guest chair provided in a restaurant. ,After the guest takes his seat, the waitress opens 'the closure il by sliding it rearwardly whereupon .she inserts a finger into the opening and by 'buckling the top ticket, lifts the free end thereof `.out of the holder.

ticket from the table.

52ans 3 short distance past the wall 2i of the member 2U, the wall being wide enough to fit snugly between the walls 24 and 25.

'Ihe ledge I4 is resilient enough to permit the closure i1 to move therebeneath when moved to closed position. A slight depression 26 in ange l provides a stop to limit the movement of the closure Il. Thus, when the closure Il is in closed position with a ticket resting thereon, the forward end of the ticket will be clamped between the underside of the ledge I4 and the top of closure Il, as illustrated in Fig. 3. Removal of thev ticket from the pile will therefore not drag the next ticket from the top of the pile since at this time the pile is impinged against the underside of the closure H.

As here illustrated, the holder is fastened -to the top of a counter, or table 30. Any number of holders can be provided, one opposite each chair provided for serving a guest. It may be desired to provide for easy removal of the holder from the counter 30, for cleaning the counter top, or for any other purpose. One novel means for accomplishing this is to provide ,a clamp 3i made of spring material. The clamp 3l is provided with a leg 32 of sufcient width to fit snugly between the walls 24 and 25 of the hand rest 23. The plate 32 extends forwardly just short of the wall 2l of the resilient member 2. To aid in maintaining the holder firmly in position, the bottom i 2 may be provided with a hole, or series of holes 33, and the :plate may be provided with corresponding protuberances tting the holes when the holder is in place. The clamp Sil is also provided with an upwardly extending leg 34, having a bent terminal 35 to bear on the underside of the counter or table 3B. The member 3i being made of spring material firmly maintains the holder in position.

If it is desired to secure the holder more permanently to the counter top, screws 36 (Fig. 5) can be used, which` screws are passed through the holes 33 above mentioned.

Operation In its use the ticket holder is operated in the A holder is positioned oppo- She thereafter slides the yclosure back to its closed position where the forward end of the closure impinges the removed ticket between it and the underside of ledge I4. The closure l1 provides a writing table for making entries on the ticket. Writing on the ticket is facilitated by the hand rest Z3 which lies rearward of the closure and the Aremoved ticket. The waitress fills the order without removing the When the guest is ready to leave, the waitress removes the ticket from the holder and presents it to the cashier for payment. One advantage of use of the invention is that the proprietor can have a complete check on the food served and charged by simply glancing at the ticket and noting the entries thereon. If a guest should be served without an entry on a ticket, this can be detected at once by the absence of a correct entry on an exposed ticket. Also the absence of an exposed ticket in the holder indicates to the proprietor that the guest has not been served.

An advantage of the invention is that the tickets are always protected against becoming'l soiled and dog-eared, since only the ticket to be written on is exposed. At all other times the pile of tickets are completely enclosed within the holder, and therefore, protected.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirably adapted to fulfill the objects primarily stated, it is to be understood that it is not intended to confine the invention to the one form or embodiment herein disclosed, for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:

l. In a device of the class described, the combination of a bottom plate adapted to be secured to a support, two side walls formed on said plate, an end wall formed on said plate, said side and end walls forming three sides of a rectangular compartment, a resilient member within the compartment and extending between said side walls, said resilient member being substantially shorter than the bottom plate, anv upstanding wall formed on the risilient member extending from thebottom plate to a level with the tops or" the side walls, and the forward end of the resilient member formed at an angle extending from the bottom plate upwardlyV toward the level of the tops 4of the side walls, and said resilient member being biased upwardly away from the bottom plate, a ledge formed on the end wall extending into the path of movement of the biased resilient member whereby the resilient member and the ledge form a clamping means to releasably hold a stack of tickets, a hand rest mounted on the bottom plate between the said side walls and the upstanding wall, and a closure movable to render the top ticket of said stack accessible so that one end thereof can be removed from the stack, said cio# sure thereafter movable beneath the removed ticket to form a writing table for making entries on the removed ticket.

2. In a device of the class described, the com; bination of a bottom plate, means to secure the bottom plate to a support, two side walls formed on said plate, an end wall formed on said plate, said side'and end walls forming three sides of Ia rectangular compartment, a resilient member within the compartment and extending between said side walls, said resilient member being substantially shorter than the bottom plate, an upstanding wall formed on the resilient member extending from the bottom plate to a level with the tops of the side walls, and the forward end of the resilient member formed at an angle extending from the bottom plate upwardly toward the level of the tops of the side walls, and said resilient member being biased upwardly away from the bottom plate, a ledge formed on the end wall extending into the path of movement'of the biased resilient member whereby the resilient memberand the ledge form a clamping means to releasably holdl'a stack of tickets, a hand rest mounted on the bottom plate between the said side walls and the opstanding wall, and a closure movable to render the top ticket of said stack accessible so that one end thereof can be removed from the stack, said closure thereafter movable beneath the removed ticket to form a writing table for making entries on the removed ticket.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a bottom plate, a resilient clamping means engaging the bottom plate and a support for the device Vto removably maintain the device on said support, two side walls formed on said plate, an end wallformed on said plate, said side and end walls forming three sides of a rectangular compartment, a resilient member within the compartment and extending between said side walls, said resilient member being substantially shorter than the bottom plate, an upstanding wall formed on the resilient'l member extending from the bottom plate to a level with the tops of the side walls, and Athe forward end of the resilient member formed at an angle extending from the bottom plate upwardly toward the level of the tops of the side walls, and said resilient member being biased upwardly away from the bottom plate, a ledge formed on the end wall extending into the path of movement of the biased resilient member whereby the resilient member and the ledge form a clamping means to releasably hold a stack of tickets, a hand rest mounted on the bottom plate between the said side walls andthe upstanding Wall, and a closure movable to render the top ticket of said stack accessible so that one end thereof can be removed from the stack, said closure thereafter movable beneath the removed ticket to form a writing table for making entries on the removed ticket.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of a, bottom plate, two side walls formed on said plate, an end wall formed on said plate, said side and end walls forming three sides of a rectangular compartment, a ticket supporting member within the compartment and extending between said side walls, said ticket supporting member being substantially shorter than the bottom plate, an upstanding wall formed on the ticket supporting member extending from the bottom plate to a level with the tops of the side walls, a hand rest mounted on the bottom plate between said side walls and the upstanding wall, indentations on the upper surface of the bottom plate, a,

6 resilient means having projections engageable with said indentations and a surface engageable with the underside of a support on which the bottom plate rests whereby the device is releasably held on the support.

5. In a device of theclass described, the combination of a bottom plate, two side walls formed on said plate, an end wall formed on said plate, said side and end walls forming three sides of a rectangular compartment, a ticket supporting member within the compartment and extending between said side walls, said ticket supporting member being substantially shorter than the bottom plate, an upstanding wall formed on the ticket supporting member extending from the bottom plate to alevel with the tops of the side walls, a hand rest mounted on the bottom plate between said side walls and the upstanding wall, indent-ations on the upper surface of the bottom plate, a resilient clamp Vhaving one leg extending into the space beneath the hand rest and extending between the said side walls, projections on the said one leg engaging the indentations, said clamp having a second leg on the clamp, spaced from the rst leg to provide means to hold the clamp and the device on a support. BRUCE K. SLONNEGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the y le Of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Haveles Jan. 23, 1945 

